Echoes of Insanity
by melodic motif
Summary: 100 themes challenge based mostly on Rio rebuilding the town and Rio's relationship with Neil. Some creative liberties are taken so don't be too shocked if it doesn't match the game exactly. 66/100 written. Rated T because who knows what I'll end up writing. NOT Regardless1604's challenge.
1. Introduction

**Introduction - (Neil)**

She has long brown hair, bright blue eyes, and an easy-to-read personality.

"Don't get me wrong," I say, patting the cow at my side, "she's a gift from Dunhill. I'm just here to deliver her. You know how to take care of her, right? Listen, I'm not just gonna let you keep this cow if you can't take good care of her."

It's obvious I intimidate her already.

* * *

A/N: Hello all! I'm back from a very long hiatus and I've decided to start working on this 100 themes challenge thing. The themes are neither written nor placed chronologically in order to retain the chronology of the plot, so definitely expect updates but don't expect them regularly. Sometimes I'll upload multiple themes at a time. Happy reading!


	2. Puzzle

**Puzzle – (Rio)**

This is all confusing to me. I've been here a week and I still don't know what to do. Dunhill thinks I'm the piece this town has been missing, but what are the other pieces? The villagers, who I can count on one hand? The farm, which is covered with trees and poor soil? My new cow Maisie, who doesn't like me? It's certainly an odd sort of puzzle, and the box doesn't even have a picture on it


	3. All That I Have

**All That I Have – (Neil)**

The workday starts off frustratingly slow, just like it always does. Every day I wish I wasn't stationed here; nobody just _passes through _Echo Village to buy anything. By lunchtime my stomach is screaming and I'm itching to play my bass guitar. Dunhill is the only person I've even seen today. He likes to take long walks around the village and come up with detailed and complex plans to entice more people to come. By the sounds of them, we'll be stuck at "population five" forever.

I straighten up when I notice somebody coming towards me: it's the farmer girl, Rio.

"Hello," I say, "what's your business?"

"I'd like to buy a chicken and some feed."

"Okay, how much feed?"

"Um." She checks her wallet. "How much is a chicken?"

I roll my eyes. "5000G."

"And how much feed will…" She checks her wallet again, this time actually counting the coins. "…2600G get me?"

I quickly do the math in my head. "Eighteen bags with 80G left over."

"Okay," she says, dumping the contents of her wallet onto my portable counter. "I want one chicken and eighteen bags of feed." She picks up a few of the smaller coins and puts them back in her wallet. I watch in disbelief.

"Are you seriously spending all your money on a chicken and some feed?"

She looks at me thoughtfully. "Yes. Why?"

I'm appalled by her answer. "I just find it a little bit crazy."

She shrugs. "You gotta spend money to make money. You're a businessman right? You of all people should know that."


	4. Innocence

**Innocence – (Rio)**

It's been a long time since I've hung out with anyone under the legal drinking age. A woman named Rebecca moved in today and she promised that she'll help revitalize the town. Dunhill claims that she's an indispensable resource for us, but one look at her son Toni made me believe that his imagination and spunk will bring more to the town than Rebecca's blueprints ever will.


	5. Deep in Thought

**Deep in Thought – (Rio)**

I'm supposed to be working hard on my farm all the time, growing crops and raising animals to make money. That's what my parents want me to do, anyway. Dunhill wants it, too, but for different reasons. There's not much to do on my farm right now, though, since the town is so small. People just can't afford to go out and buy things to sell to me if I'm their only customer; I can't make money to buy more of their things when my land is so bad; improving my land is impossible when there's nothing to work with. I spend a lot of time wandering around.

Sometimes I'll see Dunhill or Emma just strolling through town aimlessly, waiting for something to do. Whenever I pass through the plaza I see Neil. Every now and then he's with a customer, but most of the time he's just by himself, staring into nothingness. I always wonder if he's extremely bored and perpetually waiting for the next customer – similar to me, in a way – or if he uses those quiet times to reflect on anything…


	6. Do Not Disturb

**Do Not Disturb – (Neil)**

Rio ignored that most of the village – including myself – was still sleeping and barged into my house at 6:30 in the morning. "Neil! Neil, my first baby chick hatched! You wanna come see it?"

I stare at her from my bed, expression groggy and vacant. "No. Get out of my house."

"You'll swing by later, I bet," she says with a smirk.

She then squeals and runs out of my house, leaving me alone once again. There's no way I'll be able to fall back asleep now. On my day off, too! Stupid…


	7. Trouble Lurking

**Trouble Lurking – (Rio)**

I find the animal boy hanging out with my cow when I get back from Hana's. My rucksack is full of seeds for the new season; my head, full of questions.

"Can I help you?" I shout to him.

He starts and turns around. From the looks of it he was feeding Maisie something, perhaps a treat. "N-no! I was just checking to make sure you're taking care of your cow…"

I squint, finding this hard to believe. "If you miss her, you can come and visit whenever you want."

Neil scoffs at this. "That's stupid. I'm leaving."

I call after him, "Did you at least check out my baby chick?" but he doesn't indicate whether or not he did.

* * *

A/N: Hey guys! I'm sorry it's taken so long to update. I've been spending a lot of time working on other writing projects and school got really busy, so this project got the short stick. I'll try to write more of them, but I don't know if I can finish all 100. We'll see!


End file.
